BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 22. Iran plans to start building the main reactor of a new nuclear power plant in Khuzestan Province, located in the southwest of the country, by the end of this year (March 19, 2024), Vice President of Iran and Chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami said, Trend reports.
He spoke to reporters after the meeting of the Cabinet of Iran in Tehran on November 22, 2023.
Eslami noted that excavation work for the foundation of the Karun Nuclear Power Plant will begin in the next few days.
The chief also said that the construction and concreting of the main reactor will be a significant milestone in the country’s nuclear development.
The Karun Nuclear Power Plant is expected to cost $2 billion and take eight years to complete. It will have a capacity of 300 megawatts of electricity. Iran aims to build the plant with its own domestic capabilities.
Currently, Iran’s sole nuclear power plant in operation is the 1st unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
Unit 1 of the Bushehr NPP was launched in 2011 by the Russian Atomic Company (ROSATOM). In 2013, ROSATOM handed over the operation of the unit to an Iranian company. The unit has been generating 1,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year since 2013.
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